Top ten reasons not to circumcise your son

[knlrachel]

There are some great reasons why not to circ here! I wouldn't go so far as to say that Galations 5:6 says that Christians are NOT to circ, just that it has no value for whether they are saved or not. Other than that, great reasons

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by ldwhitfield Thanks for the article....I will definitely check it out. I can't tell my husband I will leave him over this issue, but it simply isn't true in our case. This is the only issue that we disagree on.....a big one, I know, but not a marriage breaker. I do hope that I can be strong like you though if this next baby is a boy! I will take your advice though and have him put in writing why it should be done. Maybe he will see how trivial his reasons are then....

I was thinking about this last night (don't sleep very well b/c 33 weeks pg)... by telling him that I would leave him first, I was telling him that our baby's body was not a bargaining chip. It is not something that can be traded like "You choose the first name and I'll choose the middle name." By being so blunt with him, I was trying to impress on him that though I defer to him on many things, this absolutely would not be one of them. He also tried the "You have made all these decisions, let me have this one," line, which I also shot down by saying that any perceived imbalance of power in our marriage or childrearing absolutely would not be worked out on our son's very body. He could have any problem with me he wanted, and we could address that, but that did not give him the right to alter our child's body to make himself feel better. I just kept bringing it around to "This is YOUR issue and YOU have to deal with it - we will not permanently alter our son so that you don't have to face some uncomfortable feelings."

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by knlrachel There are some great reasons why not to circ here! I wouldn't go so far as to say that Galations 5:6 says that Christians are NOT to circ, just that it has no value for whether they are saved or not. Other than that, great reasons

There are some even stronger verses about how there were those people at the time going around claiming that in order to be Christian you have to be circumcised, and that those people were lying and leading Christians astray.

The point being - it is absolutely NOT a requirement for being Christian - quite the opposite.

[yogababes]

I'm one of the really lucky Mamas who has a DH who was adamant about not circ'ing our boys! (we only have one so far but don't know what the beeb is!)... DH hates that he (himself) was circ'ed (he thinks they took too much)... Our families were kinda put off, but who cares what they think!? A friend of mine who had just had a boy was regretful, and though it's never been discussed I think something went wrong with my nephew's (or he has a buried penis, which we know is a contraindication of circ'ing at birth, it was anyway)... I felt like it was a man's issue... I'm so glad DH feels the way he does because now I DO feel like it's a human right's issue and I would feel terrible regret!

[cheerkri]

I am a very proud Christian who will not be circumcizing her son... who is now a day overdue.

I like to quote this:

Galatians 5:6 "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."

[rahhlady]

I circed my son. I plan on doing it with any other boys I have as well. I respect everyone's decision, but I think it's just up to the parents. I don't regret it at all.

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by rahhlady I think it's just up to the parents.

But you aren't the owner of the penis. You aren't attached to it. You don't feel any of the sensations from it. You don't pee out of it, and you won't have sex with it. You won't even have to look at it after the first 3 years of his life. As a parent, you have a responsibility to care for your kids' health, but the foreskin is not inherently diseased, so why should you be able to have it removed? It is not hurting him. It has lots of important functions and benefits. What other body parts should we arbitrarily be able to remove from our children?

[jakossi]

Originally Posted by Galatea 6. Only half of boys born today in the US are circumcised. This has dropped from a high of 85% one generation ago, and continues to drop. Worldwide, only 15% of men are circumcised, and those are all Jewish and Muslim. A boy is as likely to be made fun of for being circumcised as for being intact. Your husband's experience in the locker room is inapplicable 30 years later. In addition, with all of this information readily available on the internet, as your son grows, he will definitely know the difference and it won't be just rumor as it was for our generation. 9. The new testament specifically says that Christians are not supposed to be circumcised. See Galatians 5:6. In short, circumcision was the old covenant and Jesus the new covenant. There are even Jews who reject circumcision.

I'm not sure where this information comes from, and I'm although not against NOT circumcising, it's not helpful to the discussion/argument to use inaccurate information.

As some PPs have already said, the Bible doesn't say that Christians "not supposed to" circ, it just says that it has no spiritual significance. It's necessary to understand what was going on culturally as Paul brought the message of salvation through Jesus to ALL people of all cultures.

Secondly, the statement that of the men worldwide who are circumcised are ALL Jewish and Muslim is simply not true. My husband is from Cote d'Ivoire West Africa and is neither Jewish nor Muslim (nor comes from those backgrounds). The circ rate of Cote d'Ivoire is 98% of males in a country that is 1/3 Muslim, 1/3 Christian & 1/3 traditional religions/animism.

I'm not saying these are reasons to circumcise, but that they shouldn't be part of an argument to support not circumcising.

[EricaLynn]

Originally Posted by Galatea But you aren't the owner of the penis. You aren't attached to it. You don't feel any of the sensations from it. You don't pee out of it, and you won't have sex with it. You won't even have to look at it after the first 3 years of his life. As a parent, you have a responsibility to care for your kids' health, but the foreskin is not inherently diseased, so why should you be able to have it removed? It is not hurting him. It has lots of important functions and benefits. What other body parts should we arbitrarily be able to remove from our children?

Its like removing their toenails at birth because they might some day become ingrown an infected.

[Kerry]

Originally Posted by EricaLynn Its like removing their toenails at birth because they might some day become ingrown an infected.

I second this statement and I second the right on mama's